Dixie Amateur Radio Club May 2010 Page 1 Who Are We? The Dixie Amateur Radio May 2010 Volume 34, Issue 5 Club, Inc. is a non-profit IRS 501(c)(3) association of © 2010 Dixie Amateur Radio Club 501(c)(3) association of federally licensed Amateur Breaking News Radio operators (also known Hal Whiting, KI2U, as "ham radio" operators) who primarily reside in takes helm of county ARES southwestern Utah, mostly in the greater St. George City At the April club meeting, it was announced that Tom Oliphant, KC1EMS, metropolitan area. We also has stepped down as Washington County ARES coordinator. He will be have members who live in succeeded by Hal Whiting, KI2U. The appointment is immediate. rural areas of Washington County and in areas outside Whiting inherits a well structured, active of the county. The Dixie group. “It was quite the surprise to me”, said Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a Whiting at the April meeting. “The responsi- formally "Affiliated Club" with bility is great, but I’m ready. We’ll get ARES the American Radio Relay organized again. Count on it.” League (ARRL) "The National Association for The Amateur Radio Emergency Service con- Amateur Radio". sists of licensed amateurs who have volun- tarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communications duty in the Hal Whiting, KI2U public service when disaster strikes. Every licensed amateur, regardless of membership in ARRL or any other local or national organization, is eligible to apply for membership in ARES. Table of Training may be required or Contents desired to participate fully in ARES. Please inquire with President’s Message...........2 ARES Overview......................2 KI2U for specific informaton. SWR Meters Make You Because ARES is an Amateur Stupid! ......................................3 Radio service, only licensed ra- K7DLX’s Word Search. .5 Farwell and Good...........6 dio amateurs are eligible for Field Day Letter...................7 membership. The possession of emergency-powered equip- ment is desirable, but is not a requirement for membership. Oliphant has been ARES coor- dinator in Washington County since 2002. He is resigning to spend more time with his family. The Dixie Amateur Radio Club offers a sincere thank you to Tom for his work in the past and wishes for all the best in the future. Dixie Amateur Radio Club May 2010 Page 2 2010 Nick Nickle, W7CRN Board Members President’s Corner President...C. R. “Nick” Nickle W7CRN The May Board of Directors meeting will be held on Vice-President....Kory Talbot KE7MMH Thursday, May 6th at 7:00 PM in room E of the Com- munity Arts Building, 86 South Main Street in St Secretary.......... Kevin Merrill KE7TLW George, members are welcome to attend. th Treasurer..........Harold Wells KE7OZG At our May Club meeting on Wednesday, May 19 Ric Wayman will provide us with a presentation on Board Member.....Scott Taylor KE7YIQ PSK31 operation. Board Member..Bruce Bissell KE7LGD On Saturday, May 22nd we will have a Dutch Oven Dinner and Hamfest in Rockville, Utah, from 2 PM to Board Member....Ken Forshee KE7DZI 7 PM. All Hams, family members and friends are invited to attend. The dutch oven dinner will be chicken and potatoes with salad, cobbler and ice cream and homemade root beer. The price is $12 for adults and $6 for children under 12 Past Presidents years. Activities will include a tailgate swap meet, fox hunt, antenna construction – 2 meter tape measure beam and 2 meter slim jim antenna (about $15 each for of DARC materials). Family fun things include a treasure hunt for the kids, horseshoes, river fun, ride the zip line and swing on the whirly gig. If you are interested in at- 2009..............................Ken Forshee KE7DZI tending this event, please RSVP or contact Harold KE7OZG at 628-3119. If you 2008.................................Ric Wayman K7DLX want to build an antenna please so indicate when you RSVP. Dinner tickets 2007.....................................Hal Whiting KI2U th must be purchased in advance at our May 19 club meeting or by contacting 2006.....................................Hal Whiting KI2U Harold. Volunteers are needed to help with: radio talk-in; welcome and parking; 2005.............................Gary Zabriskie N7ARE food preparation; swap meet; fox hunt; antenna construction; kid’s activities; 2004................................Dan Farwell W8EQA publicity and maybe more. Contact Nick at [email protected] or Harold 2003................................Dan Farwell W8EQA KE7OZG at [email protected]. Or see the club website. 73 until next 2002.............................Ron Sappington WI7Z Nick 2001.......................Travis Lofthouse KD7FRN month! 2000............................................................... 1999............................................................... ARES EC Hal Whiting, KI2U 1998............................................................... 1997............................................................... ARES Overview 1996............................................................... 1995............................................................... by Hal Whiting, KI2U 1994............................................................... 1993............................................................... Washington County ARES Emergency Coordinator. 1992............................................................... 1991............................................................... "The Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES) consists of licensed amateurs 1990............................................................... who have voluntarily registered their qualifications and equipment for communica- 1989............................................................... tions duty in the public service when disaster strikes."- ARRL Website. 1988............................................................... 1987............................................................... The changes in the Washington County ARES group leadership occurred over the 1986............................................................... past couple of weeks and my appointment as the Emergency Coordinator (EC) 1985............................................................... was not confirmed until Wednesday morning in an email from the Utah Section Can anyone help me complete this list? Manager. So my knowledge of it was not much ahead of the rest of the club. I Please contact Ric Wayman at would like to thank Thom Oliphant, KC1EMS for the leadership and support he [email protected] extended to the Washington County ARES. During the past three years ARES has been directly involved with the following activities: Meet with Dixie Regional Medical Center (DRMC) emergency planning SUBMISSIONS WANTED! staff and develop MOU. Assign two operators to be liaisons with DRMC for Send your ideas, bios, articles, cartoons, etc. communications emergencies. Participation in Intermountain Health Care emer- gency exercise Teaching Technician Class course to DRMC personnel. Teaching to Ric Wayman at [email protected]. General Class course to DRMC personnel. Teaching General Class course to ALL HELP WILL BE APPRECIATED! public (held at Dixie Ambulance Station). Coordination with Southwest Utah Public Health (SWUPHS) to set up EOC. Erection of antennas on roof of SWUPHS building. Participation in SWUPHS "Operation Sphere" exercise. Participation in the SWUPHS flu shoot-out. Attendance at Local Emergency Planning Committee meeting. Attendance at Utah ARES conferences in Salt Lake City. Radio commu- (Continued on page 5) Dixie Amateur Radio Club May 2010 Page 3 Ladder Line to Eternity...or... SWR Meters Make You Stupid! A multi-part tutorial by Eric P. Nichols (KL7AJ) It may have already occurred to you that it might be desirable to locate your amateur radio antenna at some distance from your transmitter and/or receiver. In fact, unless you intend to operate your station from the top of a tree or a tower, it is very likely that you will be employing some form of transmission line. The purpose of a transmission line is to convey radio frequency energy from a radio set to an antenna, or vice versa, in as painless a fashion as possible. You can think of a transmission line as an extension cord for R.F. In fact, for the lower regions of the radio frequency spectrum, actual extension cord can serve reasonably well, for reasonable distances. Like so many other facets of Amateur Radio, the transmission line seems to have taken on a life of its own, accumulating a vast, sticky, woolly hairball of misinformation along the way. This is all so unnecessary. A transmission line is a means to an end, never an end in itself. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. A Bit of History In the early years of radio, there wasn't much of a line of demarcation between a transmission line and an antenna. In fact, let's look at a very typical amateur radio antenna of days past. It consisted of an array of parallel wires, or “flat-top” arranged much like a clothes line, and a SINGLE WIRE leading from the flat top to the transmitter. This single wire “transmission line” typically radiated as much signal as the flat-top antenna itself, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Anything you could hang out there in space that radiated a signal was a help. Countless hundreds of thousands of long-distance radio contacts were made with such contraptions. If it Ain't Broke, Fix it Anyway Despite the unquestioned effectiveness of such an arrangement for much of amateur radio's history, for some